3 New Non Fiction Picture Books On My Shopping List

I'm preparing my shopping list for Cover to Cover when my budget opens again and I can start buying books for the library. I reviewed three new picture books here. I've also been looking for non-fiction picture books that I want to add to our Bailey collection.

Time to Eat by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page: I don't know how Steve Jenkins keeps up with all of his projects, but everything he puts out is good. Animal eating habits are covered in this book. The weird diets, the weird way some animals eat, and the amazing amounts that some animals eat are all presented in short, easy to read paragraphs. I think one of my favorite factoids is a human would have to drink like 6000 milkshakes in order to eat as much as a tick, comparisons like that are fascinating to me and I think kids too. The fact that Jenkins and Page cover so much info in such short presentations is one of my favorite things about their books. As always, the illustrations are amazing and the back has additional information on all of the animals in the book.

Just Fine the Way They Are: From Dirt Roads to Railroads to Interstates by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge; Illustrated by Richard Walz: This book tells the story of our nation's roads beginning with dirt roads to our first National Road Route 40 and moves through to today's super highways. I thought it was interesting and a great timeline book that could be used for teaching that concept. I liked how the author brought in the "fear of change" theme throughout and how, thank goodness, that fear was ignored and progress was made. The illustrations by Richard Walz are bright and colorful and fun to look at. The Columbus connection made this an especially interesting book for me.




If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet by Leslie McGuirk: I'm sort of picky about buying ABC books, they have to really stand out somehow, because there are SO many of them. This one passes the test. Rocks sculpted by ocean waves are amazing things to me and apparently its the same for author/photographer Leslie McGuirk who spent years finding the letters for this book. She has used weathered rocks that look like letters to create the pictures in this book. I think kids will be intrigued by the fact that all of these rocks were shaped by nature and were just found on Florida beaches. It may give them something to think about and on their next trip to the beach.